Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 1825

Chris Hemsworth In Talks to Star In MEN IN BLACK Reboot

We know Sony is eager to relaunch their Men in Black franchise next year with all new agents and stories, but it’s no small task trying to replace Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. You can’t just use a Neuralyzer on fans to make them forget how great the two were in the action-comedy films. Which is why it makes sense the studio looks to be aiming big with an actor who proved he can save the world and be hilarious while doing it in Thor: Ragnarok. Chris Hemsworth could be the next MIB agent.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hemsworth has begun negotiating with Sony to star in the reboot set to hit theaters in 2019. The film, written by Matt Holloway and Art Marcum (Iron Man, Transformers: The Last Knight), will be directed by F. Gary Gray (The Fate of The Furious).

The story is reportedly set in London, and in addition to a white male–presumably Hemsworth’s role–would also star a black woman and an older gentleman. The still untitled film (how about “Chaps In Black” for it’s London sett—okay, okay, yes, that’s terrible sorry), is set to land next summer on June 14, 2019.

We’ve told you before Sony was inspired to breathe new life into the franchise following the highly profitable relaunch of Jurassic Park with Jurassic World, so it’s funny they will also turn to a star named Chris from the MCU to lead the way. Though in fairness half the actors in Hollywood are guys named Chris who play Marvel Avengers, and aside from Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith who else has as much experience saving Earth from aliens?

What do you make of this news? Is Chris Hemsworth the right choice for the Men in Black? Tell us why in the comments below.

Images: Marvel, Sony

More Chris Hemsworth!

Outback Hemsworth in the commercial for Dundee.
Improvising Hemsworth in Thor: Ragnarok.
Will he make another Star Trek or Thor movie?

Ava Duvernay’s Effect on A WRINKLE IN TIME

A Wrinkle of Time will be in theaters on March 9. Based on the book of the same name by Madeleine L’Engle, the Disney film directed by Ava Duvernay is poised to make an impact. The film focuses on Meg Murry, played by Storm Reid, as she searches for her missing father (Chris Pine) and saves the universe. Markeia McCarty spoke with Duvernay and cast members Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw about the inclusive movie Duvernay’s created.

What drew Duvernay to Wrinkle is simple. She said the appeal came from it being “the story of a girl who doesn’t think she’s good enough, but she has everything she needs to save herself and the universe.” Not feeling adequate is an intensely relatable experience, and it’s easy to imagine children being inspired by Meg.

Besides putting Reid at the center of the film, Duvernay included “issues” that are part of everyday life to normalize them: adoption, bullying, and interracial relationships–they’re all present without being called out. Duvernay explains, “Kids don’t need to hear it as a preaching lesson, they just need to see it and they’ll grab on to it and ingest it.”

What are you most looking forward to seeing in A Wrinkle of Time? Share your hope and dreams in the comments.

Images: Disney

Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. Follow her on Twitter and keep up with her Disney food adventures on Instagram.

More wrinkles to unfold!

Help underprivileged kids see A Wrinkle in Time.
Gorgeous Whatsit, Who, and Which Barbie dolls.
Why Wrinkle is so important right now.

OVERWATCH Reveals New Hero, Brigitte

It’s always a great day when Blizzard officially reveals a new hero for Overwatch. And the 27th addition to the cast of characters is someone that we’ve seen before: Brigitte Lindholm, the daughter of Torbjörn. She’s also the god-daughter and squire of Reinhardt. While Brigitte has previously questioned whether Reinhardt was right to answer Overwatch’s recall request, she is no longer content to simply sit on the sidelines. As the game’s latest support hero, Brigitte has dedicated herself to being Overwatch’s shield, and she has many ways to help her allies.



That was a compelling introduction, but now it’s time to see Brigitte in action!

A sneak peek of Brigitte gameplay for those who can’t access PTR! pic.twitter.com/49RKMh5OQD

— LOLA (´,,•ω•,,)/

Homemade Plasma Gun Puts the Propane in Steampunk

We know a big part of the whole steampunk aesthetic is, you know, the “steam” aspect, but technology marches forth! Which is why this fantastic homemade, propane plasma rifle wouldn’t look out of place on the hip of a well-dressed gentleman in a top hat riding a dirigible.

This very cool looking contraption comes from Robert Johnson of the YouTube channel bouju1, who says he was inspired by other plasma guns he’s seen on the internet—like the propane powered coiled bottle rocket launcher we told you about last October. But rather than sending an old Coca Cola two-liter soaring, his emits a big blue blast that looks like it would have really come in handy when the Martians invaded in H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds.

Johnson said he made his gun from “a 2×8, a MAPP-gas torch, some vinyl tubing, a steel pipe, pipe hangers and hose clamps,” and that its only purpose is to make him smile. It makes us smile too.

Of course, while this is obviously very pretty and looks great in action, we can’t stress enough how dangerous it is too. If you’ve ever used a propane grill or stove before you know how true that is, so please, don’t try to make your own unless you have the skills and tools necessary to do so safely.

Because whether you’re steampunk or propanepunk (trademark!), we don’t want anyone getting hurt.

What other cool-looking “plasma guns” have you come across? We’ll be steaming mad if you don’t share them with us in the comments below.

Get More Nerdy News!

Did you know the moon is getting a mobile network?
And that Nokia is bringing back The Matrix phone?
Finally: watch a bunch of robots crash in the snow.

Featured Image: bouju1

Cash Withdrawal #42: Olympic Cookies

Cash talks to comedian Lawrence Thomas

A Fan Created Captain America’s New INFINITY WAR Shield and It Looks Legit

Earlier this month, fans caught a glimpse of Captain America‘s new shield in the latest trailer for Avengers: Infinity War. And while it’s only a matter of time before Cap’s entire Infinity War costume hits the cosplay circuit (assuming it hasn’t already), one fan has already gotten a jump on everyone by recreating his new Vibranium shield.

And it looks incredible.

Grayson Burgess built this shield using 25 individual pieces of aluminum, despite only having the trailer and a few pics available online for reference. Burgess told Nerdist it took four hours to design the shield after he spent a few days thinking about ways to make it. “I went and cut all of the pieces within 30 minutes,” said Burgess. “All of the fitting of the pieces took the most time at about 5 hours of solid work, then weathering took another 2 hours of sanding and smoothing. Once I was done with that though I got as far as I am now other than the straps, but I want to clean them up a bit before I consider it done.”

While this recreation doesn’t retract like Cap’s shield in the movie, Burgess admitted that he’s still thinking about adding that feature for future builds. “I really wanted to see what a static one would look like first. Now that I know what works and what doesn’t, I can design a retracting one with more confidence in the design. I do have a vague design in my head to make a retracting one for cosplayers and still have the look of this one while actually compacting down to a relatively small stack of metal on your arm.”

Previously, Burgess made recreations of both Cap’s original “heater” shield and his iconic circular shield. From there, Burgess has gone on to create screen accurate props for cosplayers at his site, Comic Sandwiches. He’s currently selling some pretty cool Batarang recreations as well as other replicas from Marvel and DC superhero movies. This is also the way that Burgess is paying his way through college, and we’re eager to see how good he’s going to be by the time that he graduates!

What do you think about this recreation of Cap’s new shield? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

More from the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

Who is Patriot and when will he get his big screen debut?
Will the X-Men and Fantastic Four ever join the MCU?
There’s a Black Panther helmet for adults now.

Images: Marvel Studios/Grayson Burgess

Did REBELS Change Everything We Know About STAR WARS?

Warning: There are massive spoilers ahead for the current episodes of Star Wars Rebels !

All the way back in the season two premiere of Star Wars Rebels, it was hinted that the Empire had an agenda on Lothal that had yet to be revealed. But in Monday’s episodes, we may have received the answer to that mystery. The Jedi Temple on Lothal contained a pathway to “A World Between Worlds” where everything happens at once. In other words, time travel has officially been added to the lore of Star Wars, and today’s Nerdist News is going to sort it all out.

Join host and loth-wolf wrangler, Jessica Chobot, as she explores the huge implications time travel could have on the Star Wars universe. Keep in mind Lucasfilm has previously floated concepts big and small in Rebels that have found their way into the films, like the Hammerhead Corvette and the ability to use the Force to “fly” through space. If any future Star Wars movies dive into time travel, this is where it all started.

The series’ remaining Force-powered (and not quite a Jedi) hero, Ezra Bridger, may have already changed the Star Wars timeline by pulling Ahsoka Tano from the moment of her death on Malachor. Unless Ezra was always meant to save Ahsoka. This is why time travel can be so confusing! Can time actually be changed or is everything a predestination paradox waiting to happen?

Rebels executive producer Dave Filoni has indicated this particular gate has closed. So for now, there isn’t a way for Ezra and Ahsoka to return to that “world,” but we still don’t know how the Emperor was briefly able to access it. The battle for control over the very timeline itself may not be over yet, and it could potentially play into next week’s series finale for Star Wars Rebels.

What do you think about the implications of time travel in Star Wars? Feel the Force in the comment section below.

Images: Lucasfilm/Disney XD

More Star Wars Rebels!

Dave Filoni on the world between worlds and the return of Ahsoka.
The beautiful way Rebels handled grief.
Filoni on the loss of Kanan Jarrus.

What Does WONDER WOMAN 2’s Rumored Villain Tell Us About the Movie?

Will Wonder Woman 2 see Diana chasing a famous villain in the ’80s? We discussed that on today’s Nerdist News Talks Back, along with how Star Wars Rebels‘ huge new development could forever change the galaxy far, far away, and whether Fox should slow down with their new superhero movies.

Joining host Jessica Chobot today was Nerdist News writer Aliza Pearl, along with editors Amy Ratcliffe and Dan Casey, and they started off with SPOILERS! Seriously, huge spoilers for this week’s Star Wars Rebels. If you have watched it, or don’t mind hearing them, skip ahead.



Or maybe we should say skip back, since it added time travel to the galaxy far, far away. They discuss whether this is too much of a hard science fiction change for a franchise about space magic and whether the concept will appear in future stories.

We also got word Fox will make a standalone Silver Surfer movie, in addition to their Kitty Pryde, Doctor Doom, and fast-tracked X-Force films. Are we happy about this, or would we prefer they wait for Disney to tackle them?

Finally, That Hashtag Show reports Wonder Woman 2 will be set in the ’80s and the big bad will be none other than Cheetah. Do we think this is the right villain for the film? Whoever the villain ends up being, they need to be more meaty than Ares.

Remember Nerdist News Talks Back airs at 1 p.m. PT live on our YouTube and Alpha channels Monday through Thursday, and we end our week with the all new Nerdist News What the Fridays at 1 p.m. PT, exclusively at Alpha. Make sure you always join us live to be a part of the conversation, because unlike Star Wars, you can’t go back in time if you miss out.

We still want to hear your thoughts on today’s show, so share yours with us in the comments below.

Images: Warner Bros., Marvel Comics

More news to debate!

Will the next Muppets reboot get it right?
A full spoiler-filled breakdown of Black Panther.
Did The Last Jedi novelization reveal Luke Skywalker’s wife?

Link Can’t Escape Destiny in This LEGEND OF ZELDA Parody

For over thirty years, gamers have dived into adventure with Link, the main hero of The Legend of Zelda series. But it hasn’t always been the open world beauty of Breath of the Wild. By today’s standards, the original 8-bit Zelda games were a little bit primitive. But what if Link never quite escaped the limitations of his early titles? A new comedy short, The Legend of Zelda: The Shrub of Destiny, finds Link trapped in an endless loop. And it is open for debate whether Link even realizes that he’s stuck.



This short was written and performed by Kurt Quinn and Scott Kruse, and Quinn offered a characteristically brief explanation on his YouTube page: “Went on vacation in Rothenburg, Germany. Couldn’t help self.” It’s easy to see why they were so inspired to revisit Zelda’s earliest days. The buildings in Rothenburg looked like they could have come from a land of storybook tales, it definitely feels like a small village in Hyrule.

In this very quick tale, Link answers the call for help from a villager trapped in a shrubbery, and he goes on to free others from the castle wall and other background objects. The original Zelda games have their technical glitches, but nothing quite as overt as this short. Nintendo QA wouldn’t have let this one escape into the wild! At the very end, we have to wonder if Link is feeling some kind of existential crisis about the repetitive loop he now inhabits.

What did you think about The Shrub of Destiny? It’s not safe to go alone, so leave a comment below!

Image: Kurt Quinn

More of the weird and nerdy

Classic RPG Chrono Trigger finally gets a PC release…surprise!
Famous insane person Barbra Streisand clones her freakin’ dog
Nokia is bringing back Neo’s banana phone from The Matrix

At Last, Peggy Carter is CAPTAIN AMERICA

Sometimes, the universe just wants us to be happy. And that’s why we’re so grateful for days like these, where the best characters get to do the coolest things they were, clearly, born to do—like be a superhero. Which is exactly what the new comic book solicitations for May have revealed: Agent Carter is Captain America—well, in at least one universe.

When Saladin Ahmen and Javier Rodriguez’s Exiles series lands in May, the team of alternate-reality iterations of our favorite superfolk (like Blink and Wolverine and Kamala Kahn and Valkyrie) will get to venture in and around the multiverse and end up, it seems, running into an alternate version of Peggy Carter, a.k.a. Agent Carter, kicking ass and taking names as Captain Carter. You may be familiar with the concept, as Peggy is currently kicking ass as Cap in the Marvel Puzzle Quest game.

According to the solicitation, though, she hasn’t rid her corner of the multiverse of all evil.

EXILES #3

SALADIN AHMED (W) • JAVIER RODRIGUEZ (A)
Cover by DAVID MARQUEZ
Variant Cover by JAVIER RODRIGUEZ
Character Variant Cover by MIKE MCKONE
Game Variant Cover
CAPTAIN CARTER KILLS THE RED SKULL!
That’s her mission, anyway! The fan-favorite Captain America — Peggy Carter of the Marvel Puzzle Quest game — faces off against an apocalyptically armed Red Skull! And the Exiles are just in time to join the fight — ’cuz they’ve been kicked off their mission! There’s a new team of Watchers in town, and they’re cracking down on the Exiles’ interference in the timestream — even if it means the death of everything. Can the Exiles salvage Peggy Carter’s world, fix the Tallus and get back to saving reality before the Time-Eater tracks them down again?

 

Are you excited that Peggy is Captain America now? Let us know in the comments below.

Need More Peggy in Your Life?

Here’s how and why Peggy Carter could/should be in Infinity War.
And here she is telling us why Hayley Atwell would LOVE to be in Captain Marvel.
Plus: Hayley wants an Agent Carter movie!

Images: Marvel